YOUTH BASEBALL (12U): SAYRE HOLDS OFF NTLL IN OWEGO TOURNEY ELIMINATION GAME (2021-07-11)

Valley Sports Report
OWEGO — Sayre held off a Nichols-Tioga comeback attempt to win a 7-6 squeaker in an Owego Little League 12U Tournament elimination game here Saturday.

Sayre scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning in the 12B2 consolation bracket clash, but NTLL battled back to tie the score in its half of the fifth.

The winning run came with two away in the Sayre half of the fifth. After Cam Ross led off with a single, NTLL's Jackson Bombard struck out the next two batters, but Brendan Cook moved Ross to third with a base hit and Justin Koenig brought him home with a single.

Three consecutive singles from Koenig, Shaine Strickland and Brady Flynn scored the game's initial run. A second run came home on Jordan Brown's ground out, then singles by Chase Wheeler and Ross plated two more runs.

NTLL got on the scoreboard in the third after Talon Relyea reached on a fielder's choice and scored on Bombard's double.

Back-to-back home runs by Gavin Kithcart and Kaiden Sindoni to start off the fourth closed the gap to 4-3, but Sayre countered in its half of the inning when Koenig singled and scored on Strickland's double, and Brown added a two-out RBI single.

Brendan Clark and Relyea drew walks for NTLL in the fifth and Bombard smacked a two-run triple, then scored on a passed ball.

Koenig took the mound in the sixth and retired the side to get the save. He struck out two. Brendan Cooke pitched the first four innings to pick up the win. He scattered four hits and three walks, and struck out five. Brown pitched one inning, fanning one and allowing two hits.

Bombard went the distance for NTLL, surrendering 15 hits. He fanned nine batters and did not yield a walk.

Koenig was 4-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, and Ross went 3-for-3 with a run and RBI. Strickland contributed two hits, two runs and an RBI; Wheeler chipped in with two hits, a run and an RBI; Cooke had two hits; Flynn tacked on a hit, run and RBI; and Brown added a hit and two RBI.

Bombard went 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI while Kithcart and Sindoni both were 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Relyea scored two runs and Clark added another.

NTLL, which was bumped up after going 3-0 in 12C pool play, finished the tournament with a 2-2 record. They are 12-2 overall.

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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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